SACRAMENTO - Sacramento City Unified Superintendent Jorge A. Aguilar issued the following statement in response to Governor Newsom’s announcement of a Safe Schools for All Plan:

“We are grateful for Governor Newsom’s focus on education with the Safe Schools for All Plan and the acknowledgement that safe in-person learning is a vital component in meeting our students’ academic, social and emotional needs. Today’s announcement of grants and support, as well as upcoming detailed requirements for reopening our schools is welcome and necessary. We look forward to reviewing the proposed plan and specific criteria to properly support our students through in-person learning when it is safe to do so. We, of course, share in our state’s commitment to protecting the health and safety of our students, staff, and community through distribution of PPE, and adequate testing, vaccinations, and contact tracing so that we can get back to in-person learning. Over the past few months we have operated Learning Hubs at our school sites to offer in-person support for our most vulnerable students. These Learning Hubs use a small cohort-based model and are currently at seven SCUSD campuses. We plan to expand this program in the next month, and will continue other preparations to allow all of our students the opportunity to begin a phased-in return to in-person learning.”

Sacramento City Unified continues its planning for in-person instruction as part of its Return Together Plan.

The district shares in the state’s commitment to ensuring effective testing and vaccination, and continues to work with Sacramento County Public Health to implement a testing and vaccination plan that meets standards established by public health officials. The district distributes PPE to its employees and retains a sufficient inventory of PPE for staff and students.  Sacramento City Unified has also provided continued support to families and students since school closures began in March including:

• In-person Learning Hubs for the district’s most vulnerable students
• Distributing over 29,000 computers to students to provide access to distance learning
• Creating an innovative partnership with Comcast, to provide families with free internet access through the Sac City Kids Connect program, as well as hotspots provided to students
• Continued mental health and support through the district’s Student Support and Connect Centers
• Professional development for teachers and site leadership to provide effective distance learning and student support
• Webinars and resources for parents at learn.scusd.edu
• A continued transparent planning process through the district’s Return Together Plan including outreach and surveys of families’ preferences for returning together
• In-person athletic conditioning for student athletes through the district’s Return to Plan program
• Aggressive outreach to locate and support students disengaged with distance learning to ensure these students had the tools and supports to connect to school
• Serving millions of meals to students throughout the district

To learn more about the Return Together plan, please visit returntogether.scusd.edu. To view the district’s Health and Safety plan visit returntogether.scusd.edu/return-health which includes videos demonstrating the many of the health and safety precautions on district campuses.